Monday, October 28, 2013

I love old books. I love them so much, that I could be tempted to never share them. God forbid! The Lord has blessed my library in a way that he calls me to be a blessing to others. So here is a gem I've been reading recently. The following is a powerful selection on the importance of a focus on foreign missions for the health of a local body of believers. It is especially relevant for me right now, as my church is concluding a spotlight on missions called REACH, under the banner of the often repeated phrase, "This is for That". This - the local church, the Sunday service - is for that - spreading the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world. And its time for that. May the obligation, urgency, and scope of this great commission both create, and stem from, the spiritual health and unity of the local church!

Title: The Evangelization of the World in This GenerationAuthor: John R. MottPublication Date: 1900

"Continuance in the sin of neglect and disobedience necessarily weakens the life and arrests the growth of the Church. Who can measure the loss of vitality and power that she has already suffered within our own day from her failure to do all in her power for the world's evangelization? The Christians of today need some object great enough to engage all the powers of their minds and hearts. We find just such an object in the enterprise to make Christ known to the whole world. This would call out and utilize the best energies of the Church. It would help to save her from some of her gravest perils - ease, selfishness, luxury, materialism, and low ideals. It would necessitate, and therefore greatly promote, real Christian unity, thus preventing an immense waste of force. It would act favorably on Christians countries. There is no one thing which would do so much to promote work on the behalf of the cities and neglected country districts of the home lands as a vast enlargement of the foreign missionary operations. This is not a matter of theory; for history teaches impressively that the missionary epochs have been the times of greatest activity and spiritual vigor in the life of the home church."

Joy

Bibliography

The teaching, words, and ministry of many people (to be referenced and credited periodically) have contributed significantly to the thoughts and efforts of the writings posted on this site, perhaps in some cases verbatim. May God make me invisible and show me as helpless, show the people quoted and referenced as humble and anointed, and most importantly show Jesus Christ as infinitely glorious and irresistibly desirable.